MyBooneHealth Blog

When Brandy and Michael Wheat found out they were having twins, they were ecstatic. Brandy has twins on both her mother’s and father’s sides of the family, so they knew there was a strong possibility they would welcome two bundles of joy instead of one.

You couldn’t have asked for a better summer day. It was July 12, and the high was forecast to be in the 80s. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Days like this are a gift in the midst of the sweltering Missouri summer, and Jeff Troyer of Jacksonville knew exactly how he wanted to spend it — fishing with his grandson Tyler at Rothwell Park in Moberly.

Most 96-years-olds aren’t taking float trips and golfing on a regular basis, but Charlie Digges isn’t your average 96-year-old. Charlie and his wife, Kathy, work out every day they can, either at their local gym or by taking walks near their home.

Ron Gladbach was careful. As a longtime farmer and someone with a family history of skin cancer, he knew he was at high risk. He often checked his skin for signs of cancer, focusing on areas frequently exposed to the sun, like his face and ears.

John Conley had dreamed of going on an Honor Flight for over a year. The trip would take him and other veterans to Washington D.C. to visit memorials built to honor their services. So, he was ecstatic early this year when he found out he was selected by the Central Missouri Honor Flight branch to make the trip.

Kathleen Metter knew when she turned 50 that she should schedule a routine colonoscopy. As a biology teacher at Hickman High School, where she teaches 10th graders, Kathleen wasn’t squeamish. “Nobody likes to talk about the colon, but it’s a part of us. But everybody’s busy and has to find the time for screening.”

Until late 2013, John Johnson had lived a remarkably healthy life. Even as he neared 70 years old, his body remained in near-peak condition. John credited his health to a lifetime of hard work, martial arts, long bike rides and natural medicine practices. At the time, it seemed like his only weak spot was his upper set of teeth, which had become broken and infected.

Each week, Sandra and David Eppinger get together with Sandra’s sister for a game of Scrabble. Competing in a game like Scrabble requires knowing thousands of words. Strong spelling and lexical creativity will also give you an edge.

Yet one day, as Sandra, 75, showered before her sister arrived for the game, all her words suddenly disappeared.

For children who are learning to read, the English language is full of tough challenges. Many words contain tricky silent letters. Other letters are pronounced differently depending on the word, requiring students to learn context clues to get the right sound. There are also homonyms — words that sound the same but are spelled differently. And that’s just a few of the pitfalls.

So as her students practiced their reading, sounding out the words aloud, Carol Milhollin listened very closely.